


Superheroes and Chicken Soup

by Miya_Morana



Category: Misfits
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-07-20
Updated: 2012-07-20
Packaged: 2017-11-10 09:05:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 587
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/464569
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Miya_Morana/pseuds/Miya_Morana
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The fever is actually making Nathan <i>nice</i>.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Superheroes and Chicken Soup

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the "fever" square of my schmoop_bingo card back in 2010. This was initially supposed to be Nathan/Simon, but the boys decided to do some nice friendshipy bonding instead.

Simon doesn’t really know why he’s the one stuck taking care of Nathan. Alright, maybe Alisha isn’t the ideal person to do it, what with her not being able to touch anyone. But Curtis or Kelly could have.

They somehow both managed to talk themselves out of it, so now Simon’s spending the night in the community centre to make sure Nathan’s fever doesn’t take a turn for the worse.

Nathan is, on some aspects, a terrible patient, which shouldn’t come as a surprise. He plain refuses to just lie under his covers and sleep it off. Instead, he’s pestering Simon for soup, or to dim the lights enough that they don’t hurt his eyes but not so much that he can’t read the comic books Simon brought him, as well as a hundred other little things.

There’s never been a filter between Nathan’s brain and his mouth, and Simon kind of expected him to be just as nasty as usual. So he’s not sure how to take the fact that the fever is actually making Nathan _nice_ , adding pleases and thank yous, his eyes surprisingly soft and grateful.

Simon can’t help wanting to make this more gentle Nathan feel better.

Which is why Simon is currently carefully climbing up the stairs, a tray with two bowls of chicken soup in his hands. Nathan is sitting in the middle of his little nest, hunched over an issue of _Spiderman_ , a thick cover wrapped around his shoulders. He looks so young and vulnerable, which is kind of ironic, considering.

Setting the tray down on the floor next to Nathan, Simon sits down on one of the old mattresses Nathan dragged up there at some point. Nathan looks up at him, setting the comic book aside.

“I found a tin of chicken soup in a cupboard downstairs and heated it in the microwave,” Simon explains tightly.

The way Nathan looks at him as he says “Thanks” reminds him a bit of the whole love tattoo incident, and it’s making him slightly uncomfortable.

“Ow, that thing is pretty bad,” Nathan winces after his first spoonful, and Simon has to agree with him. “Well, thanks for trying, at least,” he huffs, amused.

Nathan stretches his shoulders and leans back against the wall. Simon shuffles a bit, uncomfortable. He’s never been good at socializing, and he never knows where he stands with Nathan, if he’s messing with him or not. This strangely honest version of his almost-friend is even more unsettling.

“People don’t like him, you know,” Nathan says, out of the blue.

“Who?”

“Spiderman. People don’t like him. You want to be a superhero, don’t you? I don’t get why, I _this_ ” –he points at the comic book– “is how people treat superheroes.”

Simon stays silent for a while, trying to think of a way to explain it to Nathan. “It’s not about being liked, or being popular,” he says eventually. “It’s about doing the right thing, because you’re the only one who _can_.”

Nathan doesn’t look entirely convinced.

“People like Superman?” Simon tries, because it’s true, not all superheroes are miserable.

Nathan is still looking at him with the same blank expression, so he just shrugs.

“You know,” Nathan says eventually, “out of all of us, I think you’re the one who would make the best superheroes. You’re a good bloke, weird kid.”

Simon smiles, tentatively. “You’re not so bad yourself, deep down,” he breathes.

He’s not sure the pinkish colour of Nathan’s cheeks is only due to his fever.


End file.
